The season is halfway over, and that's good news on many fronts, especially for coaches.

If a coach has made it this far, chances are decent he'll make it to the end of the season.

Alvin Gentry wasn't so lucky. Fired by the Suns on Friday, he was the scapegoat for an organization that has made one personnel mistake after another since Gentry took Phoenix to the 2010 Western Conference finals.

Did Gentry's basketball IQ dip when Steve Nash bolted for the Lakers? What about when management went after Eric Gordon because they believed New Orleans would let the restricted free-agent guard go?

Don't doubt Gentry is relieved to be out of what had clearly become an adversarial relationship with the front office, or that it won't take long for him to find another job.

It's hard to find anyone else to put in the coaching hot seat unless you think there is some pressure on Randy Wittman to produce victories in Washington now that John Wall is back.

Of course, the Wizards scored three wins in the point guard's first four games, including one on the road against a hot Nuggets team Friday. Isn't that proof Wittman wasn't the problem when his team went 5-28 without Wall?

Gentry was the fourth coach to be let go since the season began, which makes ownership impatience the biggest story of the first half of the season.

The Lakers established this season's tolerance level for unmet expectations when they sent Mike Brown packing after just five games. Maybe the Nets, Bucks and Suns figured L.A. had given the OK to be impulsive.

What else grabbed our attention through the midway point of the season?

Lakers' implosion: If the playoffs started today, the Lakers would be watching them on TV. After their offseason acquisitions of Dwight Howard and Nash, this is incomprehensible.

Clippers' eruption: Just as nobody believed the Lakers would be out of the playoff picture at this point, no one thought the Clippers would have the second-best record in the league or be the toughest ticket to get at Staples Center.

Rest-gate: David Stern's decision to fine the Spurs $250,000 because Gregg Popovich sent four key players home rather than play in Miami for a fourth game in five nights sets the stage for a future confrontation. Popovich vows he won't stop doing what he deems best for his team.

Stay tuned.

OK in OKC: It didn't seem possible for the Thunder to be as good without James Harden as they were with the reigning Sixth Man Award winner, but check today's standings.

Tim Duncan's resurgence: You can't find another player in NBA history who has improved so dramatically from one season to the next at age 36. His numbers are up in scoring, rebounding, assists and, most dramatically, blocks. It's the main reason the Spurs remain a title contender.